


Balancing Act

by aperfectpearl (dimensionhoppingrose)



Series: Her Son, My Son [4]
Category: Steven Universe - Fandom
Genre: Fight Aftermath, Hurt/Comfort, Mother-Son Relationship, Oneshot, Other, Steven and Pearl forever hold my heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 20:45:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18059768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimensionhoppingrose/pseuds/aperfectpearl
Summary: “It’s really okay,” Steven said, rubbing the back of his head. “No one got hurt. Besides, it wasn’t all you. I was angry, too.”“You don’t get violent, though.” Pearl sighed, pressing her hand to her forehead. “It was so stupid. I was so… I’m sorry you got caught up in it.”**************Pearl questions fusing with Steven after a fight gets out of control. Steven is having none of it.





	Balancing Act

**Author's Note:**

> Spawned by the idea that RQ 2.0 is the "looks like a cinnamon roll but could really kill you" meme (because Pearl is a god damn ninja).
> 
> I completely pulled a random mcguffin antagonist out of thin air, based on Pearl's line in Familiar: "I wonder what's even become of Pink's court."

“Steven?”

The teen jumped at the soft call of his voice. His phone had been over his head as he texted Connie; it slipped from his hands, hitting him smack in the nose.

“Sorry!” Pearl said quickly, pausing halfway up the stairs. Steven rubbed his nose and sat up, sending the text before looking at Pearl.

“It’s okay. What’s up?”

“Uh, well...” Pearl hesitated before settling down on the stairs, her back pressed against the wall. “I just… wanted to talk about today. Or apologize, really.”

“Pearl...” Steven sighed, shoulders falling. He’d sort of been hoping they could avoid this conversation. He should have known better.

“ _Well, now, that is quite the mess you’re making. Is there a particular reason, or are you just feeling particularly brutish today?”_

_As it turned out, not everyone on Homeworld was eager for the changes “era three” had brought with it. Pink’s former court was probably the angriest, having been promised they would have their Diamond back. While Yellow, Blue, and White could exert their power over their own courts and keep the naysayers down, Pink’s court was sick of it all._

_Taking out their anger on Earth was clearly the best way to deal with it._

“ _Honestly,” Rainbow Quartz continued, kneeling on the edge of the roof they were standing on, umbrella resting lazily on their shoulder, eyes fixed on the on the angry pink Topaz below. “If you were trying to think ‘What would my Diamond want me to do in this situation,’ you were absolutely one hundred percent wrong on this count. And I speak from somewhat personal experience.”_

_The gem snarled, grabbing a large piece of debris and flinging it at Rainbow. They quickly jumped out of the way, opening the umbrella to hover in the air. “There’s no need for that, now,” they scolded. “You’re destroying a perfectly good bus – oh, wait, it’s the pizza place. Hmn. Well, Steven likes it, and the owner yells a lot, so I guess I should still protect it.” They closed the umbrella, landing in front of the Topaz. “As I was saying, you’re destroying a perfectly good business. There must be a way to solve this without resorting to property damage. The humans around here get annoyed when their town is destroyed on a daily basis.”_

“ _Stars, do you ever_ shut up _?” Topaz snapped, her gem glowing as she drew baton._

“ _Honestly, I’m not sure, see I’ve only existed for about half an – ah!” They ducked a blow, swinging the umbrella up to knock the baton away before dodging further back. “That was just_ rude _. Let me try this again. I’ve only existed for about half an hour total, and it’s a rather odd combination, so I’m still trying to figure out who I am. Alas, there’s no Sardonyx this time to help with that. Now, where were we? Oh yes,_ peaceful _alternatives to resolving this issue.”_

“ _Give us our Diamond and we’ll be on our way.”_

“ _We’re hardly holding Pink Diamond_ hostage _. She doesn’t_ exist _anymore. I’m sorry White Diamond made promises she couldn’t keep, but that’s not our problem. And no, you can’t have the person who has her gem. He’s not interested in being your substitute just because you can’t exist without your Diamond to tell you what to do.” They spun the umbrella, resting the tip on the ground and leaning on it like a cane, their other hand on their hip. “So glad we had this conversation, now if you don’t mind-”_

“ _Jeez, you’re not_ done _yet?” Amethyst complained as she rounded a corner behind the Topaz, Connie with her. “You can’t just talk everyone to death, you know.”_

“ _Says you.”_

_Topaz looked over her shoulder, and Rainbow realized what was about to happen about half a second too late._

“ _Don’t-”_

_The gem lunged at Amethyst and Connie, who split in different directions to dodge; Connie didn’t have time to draw her sword before Topaz grabbed her by the back of her shirt, locking one big arm around her (suddenly small) body._

“ _Connie!” Amethyst drew her whip, but Topaz jumped away, landing near the beach._

“ _You_ really _don’t want to do that.”_

_There was no mirth left in Rainbow Quartz’ voice, and all of the amusement had drained from their face. They straightened up, one hand locked around the umbrella, all four eyes fixed on Topaz._

“ _Put her down, and no one has to get hurt.”_

_Topaz laughed. “What’re you going to do? Talk me to death? Give me Pink Diamond, and you can have your little human pet back.”_

_Rainbow Quartz sighed, shaking their head. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”_

_They moved so fast, one could be forgiven for thinking they had teleported. But no, they were simply a blur, closing the space between them and Topaz and slamming the tip of the umbrella into the other gem’s forehead. Topaz yelled in surprise and pain, losing her grip on Connie as she stumbled back. Connie hadn’t been quite prepared either, and wasn’t able to catch herself before she hit the ground. She scrambled up quickly, realizing she had dropped her sword, but she would have grabbed a stick to fight at that moment. Rainbow Quartz stepped in front of her, however, their free hand out, gently blocking Connie from moving forward. She looked up, surprised; there was a dark look on the fusion’s face, one that would have been completely foreign on Steven’s or Pearl’s faces._

_Maybe not Pearl’s, Connie corrected herself._

_The Topaz barely had time to recover and protect herself from another blow; she swung her baton, and it met the umbrella with a surprising solid_ thud _considering how fragile the umbrella looked. Rainbow Quartz quickly flipped the umbrella so it was under the baton and jerked it up, sending the baton flying. The tip of the umbrella glowed, firing off a short laser blast which hit Topaz; she tumbled back, landing on the sand, and the umbrella glowed again as Rainbow raised it, pointing right at the gem on Topaz’ arm._

“ _Hold it!” Garnet called sharply, and everyone went still. “We bubble them and send them back,” she reminded Rainbow Quartz as she approached. “We do_ not _shatter.”_

 _Rainbow Quartz tilted their head slightly, narrowing their eyes at Garnet. After a moment of silent contemplation, they turned back to the Topaz and stabbed her through the chest with the umbrella tip; the gem poofed, and the fusion glowed, splitting apart. Steven looked vaguely confused and concerned as he looked around; Pearl had her arms wrapped around herself, eyes fixed on the ground. Garnet took care of bubbling_.

“It’s really okay,” Steven said, rubbing the back of his head. “No one got hurt. Besides, it wasn’t all you. I was angry, too.”

“You don’t get violent, though.” Pearl sighed, pressing her hand to her forehead. “It was so stupid. _I_ was so… I’m sorry you got caught up in it.”

Steven watched her for a moment, trying to think of what to say. “Fusion is weird,” he said finally. “I’m still aware of myself, but I feel the other gem – or person – too.”

“Fusion can be a mixed bag. It requires a lot of conscious effort to make sure one gem doesn’t take over. Ruby and Sapphire struggled a bit in the beginning. Sapphire was surprisingly combatant when she wanted to be.” Pearl sighed, scrubbing her eyes. “I tried not to take over, I really did. I want you to have good experiences with fusion and gems and… everything. Homeworld was terrible. I knew it was going to be, I don’t know why I gave the Diamonds the benefit of the doubt, White Diamond was unhinged _before_ the war...”

“But I _have_ had good experiences,” Steven said, turning completely to face Pearl. “I had good experiences being _raised_ by you, and Garnet, and Amethyst. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. You guys have always been there for me, encouraging me, helping me figure out how my powers work, protecting me, doing all the weird things I want to do. I’ve had _awesome_ experiences with you guys. And with other gems. Peridot and Lapis are awesome. Bismuth is amazing. Even seeing Homeworld was pretty awesome when White Diamond wasn’t trying to kill me. I want to go back – maybe after everything calms down and Pink Diamond’s court stops trying to kill us. And I love being Rainbow Quartz, even if they’ve only existed for like, half an hour. It’s fun to be Rainbow Quartz. Yeah, today got a little intense, but it was the first time we ever really fought and that Topaz played dirty, grabbing Connie like that.”

Pearl lowered her hand from her face, giving Steven a small, uncertain smile. “You _really_ enjoyed Homeworld?”

“Well, _seeing_ it was cool. Maybe next time we can do something fun. Like, walk around and actually _see_ things. I’ve only been to three or four places on the entire planet.”

“You didn’t even see the good places,” Pearl said, brightening a little. “The palaces and ball rooms are all eloquent and amazing, of course, but there are places on Homeworld that are absolutely breath taking. There’s this one spot, if you’re there at just the right time of day, the stars are so bright and beautiful. And the architecture is breath-taking – the palaces are actually more than just one big empty room. Oh, and the farms – those are a long story, I’ll explain later--”

Her eyes were shining now, and Steven grinned, bouncing off the bed. He settled down next to her on the stairs. She looked down at him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “I’d love to see all of that,” he said honestly, snuggling into her side. “And I want to keep learning things, and seeing things, and fusing. And you didn’t just _take over_ today. I wanted to save Connie. We were working together. That’s what we’re supposed to do.”

“Yeah.” Pearl hugged him tight. “We work together.”

He returned the hug happily. “Also, Rainbow Quartz is so much _fun_. I think they talk more than Sardonyx.”

Pearl laughed. “It’s definitely a contest between them. Too bad they can’t meet.”

“Imagine Sardonyx interviewing Rainbow Quartz.”

“Oh _stars_. They’d never shut up.” Pearl took a deep breath, putting on her best Sardonyx voice. “Now, Rainbow Quartz, _tell me_ about yourself. Who are you?”

“Well I’m Steven, and I’m Pearl,” Steven responded in a very poor British accent. “And it’s quite odd, actually, I’m still trying to figure it all out. But I have an umbrella, and look how I can spin it! And I can float and fly and make _a-maze-ing_ puns.”

“Ah, yes, yes, very good.” Pearl tapped her chin. “Very good, indeed. But who _are you_? What makes you special?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s the umbrella.”

They held serious expressions for a few seconds before dissolving into a fit of giggles.


End file.
